Good Girls Review: Frère Jacques (Season 3 Episode 6)

Regret and grief are the top of the order on Good Girls Season 3 Episode 6, “Frère Jacques.”

Everything changed after the events of Good Girls Season 3 Episode 5, “Au Jus,” and they can no longer deny that what they are doing is going to have a profound effect on the lives of those around them.

Lucy’s death was absolutely needless and she didn’t deserve the fate that she got, but the prospect that Max might be next on Rio’s hit list is too much to bear.  

They have gone through a lot to keep their operation going, but their attempts at keeping Max safe take the cake. 

It’s hard to remember the last time these women have actually felt scared or threatened. These three seasons have seen their confidence on an upward swing, and while there were setbacks they always came out on top. Those instances, however, were also self-serving. 

The threat to Max is different. Their efforts to protect him come not from a desire to save themselves, but to make sure another innocent person doesn’t die. It’s a way of rectifying a wrong that doesn’t really fix anything but keeps them aligned as “good girls” in this bad, complicated scenario. 

Of course, in true Good Girls  fashion, it all goes wrong thanks to modern technology.

In so many ways the use of FaceID and Find My Phone to create complications feels like that time they stole a car on Good Girls Season 1 and Annie didn’t realize she couldn’t unsync her phone from the car’s computer. Just, much easier to fix. 

The way they ultimately this problem turns out to be very simple, but it works, and it allows Beth to operate and print the money that she needs for Rio. It’s much tenser than it was in the past, but it’s a way forward, for now. 

Guilt and regret manifest themselves in different ways on this episode, and no one seems better at trying to express it than Annie who is looking for a new therapist. 

There’s truth in what happens to Annie in this episode. You need to find a therapist that’s a good fit for you when you embark on a path of psychotherapy. Annie got lucky meeting Dr. Cohen and what she finds on this episode is that not every therapist is going to get her, especially not one your teenager found on Groupon. 

This isn’t an uncommon trope. It was also used in an episode of Blindspot Season 4 to drive Jane Doe back to someone who had betrayed her and her team. In both situations, the desired result isn’t ideal, but it’s what the characters need. There was also something funny and relatable in the scenes. 

When she goes back to Dr. Cohen and begs him to see her again as a patient, we see a new side of Annie. She truly wants to get better and stop making the terrible choices that have become her standard fare. She deserves that chance and she needs that chance to grow. 

Annie is showing tremendous strength in recognizing what she needs. This is not something she would have recognized in previous seasons and doing so exhibits strong character growth on her part. Hopefully, Dr. Cohen can help her, and not cross any lines in the process.

Even Dean seems to be grieving on this episode. The way that the Bolands have appropriated Au Jus is an interesting layer to the scenario. Beth knows that Lucy loved her bird, and keeping him is both a way to honor Lucy and a way to pay penance. 

Dean’s reaction and attachment to Dorito seems odd. It isn’t clear how much he knows about Lucy or Dorito’s origins, however, we have to remember that he also had to lie to his children about dead fish in the last episode. In his own way, he’s experiencing similar trauma. 

However, his efforts to save Dorito can also be seen as a way to save his marriage. We don’t know what role Dean played in the everyday care of the fish, but he’s not about to be negligent in that again.

He is the one who said, “You don’t kill something you love,” and his focus on Dorito as a way to deal with some of the complex things surrounding Beth. 

The most heartbreaking story of this episode is the possibility that Stan can return to work as a cop. Stan is the most lawful good character on this show and he loved being a cop. There was no reason to think that he would ever not want to go back to not being a cop. 

The notion that if Stan goes back to being a cop that then Ruby, Annie, and Beth’s enterprise can’t exist is heartbreaking. It’s almost an inevitable doom if he joins the force again, and he seems to know that.

His speech about trying on his uniform and how he feels like a fraud is heartwrenching. It means that Stan knows that he’s compromised his morals, and Ruby has to confront that too. 

This is concerning because Ruby and Stan have the most stable relationship in this universe, and it would be a mistake for their family to break up over this or for their relationship to turn resentful. 

“Frère Jacques” is where Season 3 of Good Girls hits its stride. It’s back to business as usual, but with the overwhelming idea that there’s a terminus to their usefulness. It’s raised the stakes and now they have to be more careful than ever. 

Stray Thoughts:

• I knew the bird would ultimately blow it for them in the end. I really want to make a joke about singing like a canary here, but Au Jus isn’t a canary, so I can’t really say that. 
• I’m very, very happy about how Dean has grown as a character and how he’s taken his head out of the sand and realized that he does play a part in their marriage and he needs to step up. However, I still keep waiting for someone to just yell at him for faking cancer. I’d apologize, but that is just not okay in my book and that’s never come to a satisfactory resolution for me. The further we get without mentioning it, the less likely we’ll ever see it addressed, but I still want to see it addressed.
• Given how Rio reacts in this episode, I’m actually thinking Rio isn’t really in charge and that this whole season is going to come out with him being under the thumb of someone scarier. 
• I know there are therapists on Groupon, but maybe this episode is a wake-up call that you shouldn’t find a healthcare provider on Groupon. And maybe a subtle way of saying that mental health services should really be more accessible. 
• I love how Beth’s reaction to thinking she’s being propositioned for sex is to scream, “I have herpes!” And the response is just to look at her and ask for a hot tub. Clearly, hot tubs are more important than sex, and remember, “No one needs a hot tub,” so when you can, blackmail someone for it. (Total sarcasm. Do not actually do that.) 
• I’m on the fence about Max using Find My Phone to ultimately find Lucy. He does apologize so I imagine he must have been worried to use that feature, but it still feels like a breach of trust. 

What did you think of this episode of Good Girls? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Good Girls airs Sundays at 10/9c on NBC.

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